Written by Robert Bielak
Directed by George Mendeluk
This episode provides examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Hercules observes Deric messing with a couple of bigoted guests and has to stifle a laugh.
- All-Loving Hero: When Salmoneus suggests he get an agent to negotiate payment for his deeds, Hercules remarks he's a hero simply because he enjoys helping people.
- All of the Other Reindeer: It's suggested that Lyla is an outcast for associating with Centaurs and dating one. While Penelope didn't begrudge her in the slightest, other characters did demonstrate a good deal of intolerance towards Centaurs. Even Deric thinks she'd have better standing if she didn't associate with them.
- Avenging the Villain: In addition to claiming Penelope as a bride, Nemis wants to avenge Nessus by killing Hercules. He says he's spent every day since dreaming of revenge.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Hercules tells Salmoneus to keep his usual schemes to a minimum because the wedding guests aren't rich. Salmoneus is wounded to hear this... because it means Hercules is cutting him off from potential profits.
- Celibate Hero: Lyla comes on to Hercules as part of the plan, but he surprises her by rejecting the advance.Hercules: I just don't want to go through life leaving a string of fatherless children behind.
Lyla: Are you always so noble?
Hercules: I try to be. - Didn't See That Coming: Deric and Lyla over the potion taking so long to affect Hercules.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Penelope insisted on inviting Deric, Lyla, and Craesus to the wedding, due to having known them for so long, but Lyla is insulted over not being a bridesmaid, while Craesus thinks it's insulting to be put at a table way in the back by the guests' pets. Deric admits he can see their points, but he takes it all in stride.
- Due to the Dead:
- Hercules had met Penelope through her brother, Myceum, who died at Corinth some years ago. Hercules attends the wedding in part out of respect for his fallen friend.
- After Tyron is killed, Hercules buries him and delivers a brief eulogy. He later gives Cheris the guy's sword, referring to it as a symbol of his courage.Hercules: Rest easy, Tyron. You were never a coward.
- After Nemis dies, Hercules gives him some credit for helping hold up the cave so that the captive women could escape.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Penelope insisted on inviting the Centaurs, as they've worked for her father for ten years. Deric is admittedly impressed, saying a lot of others wouldn't have bothered. Marcus (the groom), in fact, opposed inviting them right up to the actual ceremony.
- Deric looks disgusted when Nemis chains up the captive women and later opts not to kill Hercules as ordered.Hercules: Why would you do that?
Deric: You're not my enemy. Even if you were, I wouldn't take advantage of your blindness. - Salmoneus is reluctant to help face the Centaurs since he's not a fighter, but he just can't leave Hercules to fend for himself at a time like this. Even when later told to leave, he comes back to act as a decoy.
- Fantastic Racism: This episode introduces the idea of humans being bigoted towards Centaurs. Penelope suggests Hercules may've lost some fans by befriending Deric.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Salmoneus had previously been a source of annoyance, but him helping Hercules during the Temporary Blindness and distracting Nemis during the climax cause Herc to regard him as a true friend.
- Freudian Excuse:
- Hercules has nothing but respect for Centaurs, due to being mentored by one (Ceridian). Young Hercules would later establish Cheiron as another one of his teachers, thus reinforcing this.
- Hercules avoids casually sleeping around because he knows what it's like to grow up without a father and can't bear the idea of doing that to a child.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Deric notes that Nemis wasn't always bad and just got worn down by a life of hard times.
- Greed: Hercules is almost amazed by Salmoneus's ability to see literally anything as a means to make a profit. Salmoneus remarks that it's a gift.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Tyron is crushed by a boulder after pushing an injured Marcus out of the way.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Nemis is wounded by the club that he intended to use on Hercules.
- Honor Before Reason:
- Hercules bumps into Tyron bringing a fallen friend's armor back to his family. He insists on doing so alone, which Hercules respects.
- After Tyron dies, Hercules insists on going it alone so that Salmoneus and the injured Marcus don't suffer similarly. He also refuses to simply wait for additional help to arrive or for his eyesight to return, though that's because Nemis has two captives in need of help.
- It's Personal: Nemis towards Hercules. In the end, Hercules acknowledges how this is his fight, too, and tells the others to go back home while he deals with it.
- Love Makes You Evil: Nemis does genuinely love Penelope and goes to extreme lengths to be with her, despite her insisting that he misread simple kindness as overtures of love. On the other hand, it's demonstrated that Nemis was already warped by a lifetime of hardship and the death of his twin brother, so it's not the only issue here.
- Mutual Disadvantage: With two women in danger, Hercules won't wait for the potion to wear off. Instead, he sneaks into Nemis's cave at night and manages to put out the fire, putting them on equal footing.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jealous of Cheris getting to be a bridesmaid, Lyla gets Craesus to become interested in her. As Craesus abducts the screaming woman, though, Lyla looks rather guilty to see how far this went.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Lyla attempts to distract Hercules by coming on to him. Though she does get the potion into his drink when he's simply not looking, she's rather surprised when he politely turns down her brazen overtures.
- Parental Substitute: Deric says Nemis raised him, which is why he won't fight him directly.
- Pyrrhic Victory: During the fight on the hill, Hercules manages to mortally wound Craesus, but Marcus suffers a nasty leg injury and Tyron is killed.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Lyla feels that Nessus deserved to die for attempting to rape Deianeira. Hercules is also repulsed by Nemis since he looks like his brother.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Deric and Lyla both decide to leave Nespa for Athens in hopes of finding a more tolerant place.
- Sequel Episode: To the Underworld TV-Movie. There, Hercules killed Nessus for trying to rape Deianeira; here, the twin brother attempts to get revenge.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Tyron is shaken by the death of his best friend in battle and his failure to avenge him.
- Take a Third Option: Nemis ordered Deric to go kill the blinded Hercules. Deric refuses (as Herc isn't his enemy), but he also won't fight against Nemis, so he and Lyla opt to just leave the area.
- Temporary Blindness: Lyla gives Hercules a poisoned drink designed to do this to him. It actually takes longer to kick in than expected, due to his half-god nature. Hercules worries if it will actually be permanent and how that would affect his life of heroism, but Lyla later tells him it'll wear off in a few days.
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- Played for laughs when Hercules sees he has bumped into Salmoneus once again.
- Played for drama when Hercules realizes he's going blind at the worst possible time.
- Token Good Teammate: Deric for the gang. Nemis is a straight up villain. Craesus is a willing accomplice, abducting Cheris for himself. Even Lyla is needlessly petty over not getting to be a bridesmaid. Deric, meanwhile, just wants to have some fun at a wedding and consistently demonstrates more ethical standards.
- Villain's Dying Grace: With the cave's support collapsing, the mortally wounded Nemis takes over holding it up from Hercules and tells him to get Penelope to safety.
- We Used to Be Friends: Penelope and Lyla were best friends growing up, but they drifted apart after Penelope's brother (whom Lyla had a crush on) died at Corinth. Lyla feels slighted over not being asked to be a bridesmaid.
- The Woman Behind the Man: Hera gives Nemis the club so that he can kill Hercules.
- Worf Had the Flu: Exploited with the potion to make Hercules go blind. He is unable to stop the Centaurs from abducting the women, gets knocked out by Craesus (who he had effortlessly outdid earlier in sporting events), and struggles during the later fights, even with help coming along.
